Rami Kleinstein

Kleinstein was born in New York in 1962 and grew up partly in West Hempstead, where his Israeli parents spoke Hebrew to each other in what he remembered as a “secret language.”[1] His family first moved to Israel in 1970, when he was eight, stayed for about a year, and then returned to the United States for two years before settling permanently in Ramat Aviv.[1] His childhood also included accompanying his physicist father on academic sabbaticals, including a stay in Virginia while his father worked at NASA.[5]

His parents recognized his musical ability early: they bought him a melodica during the family's first year in Israel, and he subsequently began playing a piano in the basement of their rented American home.[1] After their return to Israel, they arranged classical piano lessons with Aida and Enrique Barenboim, the professional-pianist parents of conductor Daniel Barenboim.[1] Kleinstein continued studying with Enrique through high school; although his teacher believed he could become a concert pianist, he preferred writing and performing his own music.[1] While still at school, he formed the band Likui Hama with Yirmi Kaplan.[4]

Before making records, Kleinstein played small clubs, performing English-language covers of piano-based pop musicians including Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Joel.[1] He met Rita Farouz at a Tel Aviv performance about a year before beginning military service, and the two became both musical and romantic partners.[1] Kleinstein performed for troops during his service in the Israel Defense Forces, and Rita later joined him on the army performance circuit.[1]

He became musical director of the military band Tzahal 80, whose members included Rita, Shulava Rati, and Hani Dinur.[4] In 1983, he created the soundtrack for the film The Boarding School with Yurik Ben David and composed most of the songs for Tzahal 84 later that year.[4]

In 1984, after his army service, Kleinstein composed “Od Lo Tamu Kol Pla’ayich” (“Your Wonders Are Not Yet Over”), setting lyrics by Yoram Taharlev.[6] He recalled receiving the words by fax and quickly composing the melody at the piano, without initially realizing how popular the song had become on Israel Radio's Reshet Bet.[6] About eleven years after its release, concertgoers told him that it was sung at Friday-night gatherings of the Bnei Akiva youth movement; he expressed surprise at its emergence as an anthem.[6]

After returning to civilian life in the mid-1980s, Rita signed with Helicon Records, and Kleinstein wrote and produced her self-titled debut album, released in 1986.[1] The recording combined her Persian background with his Western-oriented songwriting.[1] Kleinstein later recalled the responsibility of producing another artist's album for the first time and his ambition to give Rita a distinct artistic identity through her powerful voice and an updated Israeli sound.[6] He composed the melody of “Shir Ahavat HaSapan” (“Song of the Sailor's Beloved”) while walking home from the beach, then brought it to Yair Lapid, who wrote the lyrics in about two hours.[6]

Later in 1986, Kleinstein released his own debut, Beyom Shel Haphatzah (On the Day of the Bomb), moving directly to it after finishing Rita's album.[1][7] He composed most of its songs, with lyrics supplied by other writers.[2] Its tracks included “Esh” (“Fire”), “At Sharah BaRadio” (“You Sing on the Radio”), “Shvua” (“Oath”), a duet with Rita, and “Hanichi Li” (“Leave Me Alone”).[7] He wanted a contemporary international sound, imagining guitars in the style of U2 and drums resembling those of the Police or Phil Collins.[7]

“Esh,” with lyrics by Hannah Goldberg, was composed, arranged, and performed by Kleinstein and first recorded for the debut.[2] It and other album tracks enjoyed radio success, while its video, showing him running through sand and singing into a microphone, became successful in the Israel Broadcasting Authority's late-night music-video slot.[2] The album marked a turning point in the growing prominence of American influences within Israeli rock and pop.[2] A radio single drawn from Kleinstein and Rita's joint show revived the song's popularity in 2001.[2]

Kleinstein's collaboration with Rita continued on her 1988 album Yemei Hatohm (Days of Innocence), which sold more than 120,000 copies and became one of Israel's best-selling albums.[8] It contained ten songs, with two additional tracks on the CD edition; Kleinstein composed its songs apart from “The Princess and the Wind,” composed by Yehuda Poliker.[8] Its repertoire included “Bo,” “Atuf Berachamim,” “Ani Chaya Li Miyom Leyom,” and the title song.[8] Kleinstein also composed and arranged “Hevra,” written as a letter to Rita's childhood friend Penina Assis after she moved to France.[8]

Rita remembered the album as an important turning point after her debut had created high expectations, describing her anxiety before its release as “life or death.”[8] In retrospect, she regarded it as resembling a greatest-hits collection because audiences continued demanding its songs in concert.[8] Kleinstein's own solo career developed more slowly, and he spent years playing small clubs while producing, composing, and arranging for her.[1] They had two daughters, Meshi and Noam, before divorcing in 2007.[1]

Kleinstein's second album, Al HaGesher HaYashan (On the Old Bridge, 1989), sold poorly, and its songs received little radio play.[6] He recalled considering whether to withdraw from performing and concentrate instead on production and composition.[6] BaMesiba Etzel Guido (At Guido's Party, 1993) also failed commercially; one song was censored on radio and another barred from broadcast.[9] During the 1990s, he was associated with a backing group rendered as “Ha-Mo'e?ah” in an account of Israeli musical life.[10]

Alongside his solo work, Kleinstein composed “Inyan Shel Zman” (“A Matter of Time”), with lyrics by Ehud Manor, at the request of the writers of the youth television series of that name.[3] The series began airing on Israeli Educational Television in 1992, with Gidi Gov singing an upbeat opening version and a quieter recording sometimes used at the end.[3] Addressing a young listener directly, the song encourages enjoyment of youth and allowing time to grow up.[3] It became an Israeli youth anthem beyond its original television setting, with later performances by Kleinstein, including with Rita, and versions involving cast members Aviv Geffen, Sharon Haziz, and Dana Berger.[3]

A formative experience came when Kleinstein served as musical producer for a 1993 Arad Festival show featuring Gov and Yehudit Ravitz.[1] During a quieter acoustic passage, an audience of about 18,000, mostly teenagers, sang along with Israeli songs; he recalled that the experience prompted him to reconsider his musical identity.[1] He subsequently called “Apples and Dates” his first Israeli song and associated its success with a feeling that it was time to “root down” in Israel.[1]

Released in 1995, “Tapuchim VeTmarim” (“Apples and Dates”) paired his melody with unrhymed lyrics by poet Eitan Nahmias-Glas, a challenge Kleinstein found appealing.[6] The record company initially disliked the song and proposed releasing it only as the sixth single, but producer Yoed Nevo urged label owner Michael Tapuch to listen, predicting it would divide Kleinstein's career into periods before and after the song.[6] The title track became Song of the Year in Reshet Gimmel's annual Hebrew-song chart for 1995.[4]

The album Apples and Dates brought a commercial turnaround, selling 150,000 copies.[9] It reached platinum within six months and became his most successful album.[11] “Haboker At Holechet” (“This Morning You're Leaving”), “Karov El Libech” (“Close to Your Heart”), and “Shemesh” (“Sun”) became enduring Israeli pop standards.[11] The record marked his development from a rock artist toward a more explicitly Israeli musical identity.[11]

Kleinstein's subsequent releases included Kol Ma SheTirtzi (Whatever You Want, 1997), Tagid Et Ze (Say It, early 2000s), Shir Chasuf, Matanot Ktanot (Small Gifts), and Anashim Tovim (Good People).[4] His work for other performers included composing “Gara BeShinkin” (“She Lives in Sheinkin”) for the trio Mango, and he toured with Gidi Gov after Gov's album Derech Eretz.[9]

“Matanot Ktanot,” released in 2014 with lyrics by Noam Horev, became a major late-career success.[6] Kleinstein recalled asking Horev for an uplifting text about the human spirit and feeling that the resulting lyrics fulfilled that request, although the song was not in a style he had previously sought out.[6] He later described it as possibly his biggest hit and said its arrival so late in his career had surprised him.[6] A collaboration with Keren Peles began with a first single in December 2015 and led to a shared live album recorded at Tel Aviv's Heichal Hatarbut and Caesarea.[5]

In a 2015 interview, Kleinstein rejected formulas for songwriting and argued that choosing to express something positive could itself require artistic courage.[12] He described himself as an autodidact who read philosophy and had practiced tai chi for twenty years.[12] He also said he had resumed putting on tefillin after abandoning the practice during military service and had stopped performing on Fridays because of the positive effect on family life.[12]

Kleinstein described his piano shows in the United States as informal and spontaneous, with room to change the repertoire during the evening and move between ballads and rock.[13] He identified his audiences as including Israelis seeking nostalgia and American Jews seeking contact with Israeli culture, and described the performances as carrying emotional weight and a sense of mission.[13]

Three days after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Kleinstein performed at the Dead Sea hotel housing evacuated residents of Kibbutz Be'eri.[1] He also performed for wounded people in hospitals and for soldiers, and appeared repeatedly at Hostages Square.[1] He said his wartime experiences led him to release the English-language ballad “A Different Kind of Song,” intended to reach listeners outside Israel.[1]

Kleinstein's songs have become part of Israeli public and ceremonial life, heard at graduations, ceremonies, and on the radio.[1] His catalogue includes a Hebrew translation of Bob Dylan's “Forever Young,” titled “Tzair L’netzach,” as well as “Kar Sham Bahutz” (“It's Cold Out There”), “Al Hagesher Hayashan” (“On the Old Bridge”), and “Matanot Ktanot.”[1] His repertoire ranges from anthems to introspective ballads, alongside his sustained work as a composer and producer for other singers.[1]

His songwriting has also attracted academic interpretation: a 2008 thesis read a collaboration with lyricist Alon Hillel as subtly drawing on the Song of Songs despite few direct references.[14] That reading interpreted a male speaker's frustration over commitment, images of unfamiliar fields, and circles drawn around a beloved as connecting biblical rural imagery with boundaries and the Jewish wedding custom of a bride circling the groom seven times.[14]

In 2023, Kleinstein was announced as a recipient of an ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award.[15] The lifetime awards recognize contributions to Israeli music and culture, with the ceremony for the 2022–2023 popular-music season scheduled for July 9, 2023.[15]